Finding the high ground in battle

Picture of Little Round Top

In every major battle, there has always been strategic locations that were critical to achieving victory. For example, in the battle of Gettysburg, there was a hill in the center of the battlefield called little round top.

Confederate soldiers marched around it and did not initially realize its strategic importance. A union artillery brigade happened to reach the top of little round top first. As a result, they were able to command a strategic position which allowed union soldiers to fire artillery anywhere on the battlefield.

The legal field and the field of government are areas of strategic high ground in the culture war between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Darkness. If the Kingdom of Darkness occupies strategic positions in government or in the judiciary, it can cause great damage to God's people because of the top down manner in which government operates, and the degree of power government agents and officials have to pass laws, interpret laws, or enforce laws.

The Kingdom of Darkness seeks to occupy these positions of high ground in different nations so that it can pass and enforce unjust laws to oppress the people of God and to kill, steal, and destroy.

When God's people fight for these positions, they are not abandoning the gospel.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is inherently political because it involves a King who is the King of the nation of Israel, and who also claims to be King of Kings by virtue of his death, resurrection, and ascension. Someone who is King of Kings would have authority over every king, ruler, or government official. In fact, the gospel is the most controversial political message every preached.

It proclaims a new and different Kingdom whose headquarters are in heaven and which seeks to implement heaven's laws, heaven's ideas, and heaven's authority in the earth. It is a kingdom which claims authority over every earthly kingdom and requires allegiance which supersedes our allegiance to any earthly ruler, law, or king.

It is an extremely subversive and dangerous political message for any dictator or despot. That is why the Roman Empire as well as modern dictators continue to persecute Christians. If the gospel has no political implications, why would they care? The reality is that the proclamation of the gospel in its fullness results in complete societal, political, and cultural transformation. If it does not have that result, the gospel is not being preached.